


All We Have To Do Is Survive Till Prom Night

by lesbianmountaingal (AllTreesAreSapphic)



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bonfires, F/F, Pararibulitis (Dirk Gently), Trans!Farah, nervously asking your crush to prom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 20:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13621173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTreesAreSapphic/pseuds/lesbianmountaingal
Summary: Farah studies hard, gets good grades, and tries to make her father proud at the expense of her social life. Amanda nearly dropped out of school when she developed pararibulitis and now she goes out drinking with a gang in their stolen van.Welcome to the high school AU nobody asked for.





	All We Have To Do Is Survive Till Prom Night

'MECE methodology… mee-cee… mutually exclusive, cumulatively - oh, screw it! I'm never gonna remember all this stuff.' The eighth hour of studying was hitting Farah Black hard. It's not like this was even a school thing, it was just another one of the "extracurriculars" her dad had signed her up for. She wasn't sure at this point if she even wanted to go into law enforcement, but it wasn't like she had any other options.

And there were a million other things she could be focusing on right now rather than the textbook on the desk in front of her - like the prom, which was in less than two weeks, and for which she still didn't have a date. 

Part of her was already resigned to going alone. Realistically there wasn't much chance of someone asking her - between the nervous breakdown she had in class last March, and the fact that she was one of the only trans kids at school, she was hardly the coolest girl in Seattle. In the back of her mind she knew she was being needlessly negative, but then she felt like even more of a failure for not being able to stay positive -- it was a vicious cycle. And it wasn't studying, which was what she ought to be doing… 

THUD! Farah jumped out of her skin as a decent-sized rock hurtled through her bedroom window, landed on the ground and rolled a meter across the floor.

Attached was a note reading "COME DOWNSTAIRS. WE R OUTSIDE." The E's were written as backwards 3's; all of it in black and red sharpie and at least four different styles of handwriting. Her fright settled when she realized she knew exactly who had written it. She stuck her head out of the window and sure enough, in the road below was a graffiti-coated van, idling and emitting a noise like a dragon's growl. 

'Amanda! You know you can just call me when you wanna hang out, right?' She called down to the girl sitting on the van's roof. 

'I would, but I smashed my phone again!' Amanda grinned up at her without a hint of guilt for the disturbance. 'Wanna hang out?' 

Farah could never say no. Her father could though, and she was supposed to be locked in studying the whole night. 

'I can't. I'm sorry. And you drove all this way, oh my god - I'm… sorry. Gotta study.' She was about to close the window, seeing Amanda's disappointed face and knowing she couldn't invite her and her gang in for tea since they received an Official Black Household Ban a year ago. She stopped when Amanda broke into a huge grin. 'Wait - why are you smiling?' 

'Cause we're breaking you out.' 

'Oh, okay -what?! No, you can't, my family already hates you Amanda what are you -' she hopped off the van roof and made for Farah's front door, '- stop! Stop! I'll come out, I'm leaving, you got me.' She closed the window and grabbed a leather jacket, jumping into a pair of hiking boots she'd left by the door and hurtling down the stairs, grabbing her keys and reaching the front door just a second before Amanda did - as she threw it open she almost crashed into her. 

There was an awkward few seconds where they stood breathless, inches away from each other, Farah trying to look anywhere that wasn't Amanda's black-lined eyes; before she pushed past her and closed the door behind them both. 'You know you and the guys are Officially Banned from coming near this house?' 

'Yeah. And I know you need to worry less about what they think. Come on, we're gonna have some fun!' 

She hoped Amanda didn't notice how embarrassed she got when she slid her hand into Farah's and pulled her towards the van. She saw Martin, the unofficial leader, through the windshield sitting in the driver's seat and leaning on the wheel. He nodded her way, and she nodded back. Farah had no idea what the gang's deal was: they called themselves the Rowdy 3, despite there being five of them, they drove around in what she recognized as the kind of specialist van the CIA used, didn't appear to have homes or families of their own, and didn't go to school despite at least three of them being school aged 

Still, she trusted them - they were nice enough people under all the chaos and noise and underage drinking. When they'd first come to town Amanda had been in a really bad place: she had a genetic disorder, pararibulitis, which gave her painful hallucinations that felt real, and that had led to her developing anxiety and agoraphobia. It had been difficult to hang out with her back then as her parents rarely let people come over, worried that any "excitement" could set off an attack, and of course she couldn't leave the house, so they'd mostly talked over the phone and emailed notes from the classes Amanda had missed -- until the Rowdy 3 showed up. Within a week Amanda had left the house, a month and she was in therapy for her anxiety, and somehow even her attacks grew fewer as time passed - Farah had no idea how they did it, but it cemented their place in her fairly short list of friends. Also, they were the kind of folks her parents hated, so she felt a little spark of rebellion whenever she hung out with them. 

Amanda heaved the sliding door closed once they'd crammed into the back, sliding in between Farah and Vogel on the bench seat. 'Let's ride, boys!'

The van lurched off at an uncomfortable and likely unlawful speed, and Amanda was thrown to the right, squishing up against Farah. She did her best not to blush a little at the close contact. It wasn't true what people said - she didn't have a crush on Amanda, she just thought she was attractive in a totally platonic way, and only got embarrassed like this when she hugged her or held her hand because she wasn't used to it, especially from cute girls. Her family weren't huggers, so it was natural she would be… uncomfortable with Amanda's head on her shoulder and her hair tickling her nose like it was now. 

The road evened out and they sped for a while with the radio blasting something indiscriminate and punk (she'd never say it to any of their faces, but she thought that kind of music just sounded like scrap metal rolling down a hill), till they turned another corner and the van slammed to a halt, Cross threw the side door open and the Rowdies were out before Farah had even registered they'd stopped. 

'So, what is the plan, exactly?' she called after Amanda as she staggered out into the cold night air. They were in a field, surrounded by waist-high grass and weeds - the only light came from the van's headlights and the full moon overhead, and Farah regretted not bringing some kind of flashlight. 

'I'm thinking bonfire. Come on and help me find something to burn, didn't you do that survivalist course back in spring?' Amanda ran off into the grass following the yells and whoops of the rest of her gang. Farah hesitated for only a second before she followed her. 

They found a couple of slowly decomposing palettes back by the edge of the road, dragged them back to the van, drenched them in half a can of petroleum. It wasn't the way they'd taught in the survivalist course, but it was warm and bright and wild. Farah and Amanda sat together on the ground as close to the flames as they could get without singing their hair, but still they were freezing. 

Martin and Cross were competing over something, jumping back and forth over the flames - a couple of times Cross's boots caught fire and the smell of burning leather made them all gag - while Gripps and Vogel sat chucking bits of wood and anything else theoretically flammable into the heart of the fire. Farah could tell Vogel was itching to join in the pyromania and jump the fire himself, but every time he tried to stand up, the rest of them, including Amanda, shot him a warning look. 

'The last time he tried his jeans caught fire. Second degree burns. It was nasty. So, we're not gonna let him try again until he's actually taller than the fire.' Amanda explained.

'… Ah. Right. Was he okay? I mean, second degree burns carry a serious risk of infection. Like I know you guys do dangerous stuff all the time but. Still.' She realized she was worrying a little too much again, but she couldn't help it, so she just waited for Amanda to roll her eyes or say something sarcastic. 

Which was why she was so surprised when Amanda shuffled closer, rested her head on her shoulder, and said 'You know, I've never met anyone who cares about people she barely knows as much as you do. You're kinda like a guardian angel, Farah.'

She felt her heartbeat speed up, grateful for the warmth of Amanda's body against hers and taken aback by the sudden and genuine kindness in her comment - not that Amanda wasn't kind, she just tended to show it in strange ways.

'Thanks. I think?'

'Yeah, that was a complement, girl. Take it or leave it.'

'I'll take it,' Farah smiled, and slid her arm around Amanda's shoulders. God, it was cold. 

'Hey Farah?'

'Yeah?'

'Can I ask you something?' This was one of the top three phrases that triggered her anxiety, but everything was going so well beforehand, so she swallowed the panic and nodded. 

'Okay. Yeah, shoot.'

'… Will you go to prom with me?' 

And that was when her heart pretty much stopped. 

'I don't know, if you're like "into girls", or not but I figured I should try cause - I really like you. Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that. I was gonna be cool and casual about this but I failed at that, I guess. Farah? Are you okay?' 

She realized she hadn't breathed at all since Amanda had said… that. She tilted her head to the side and swallowed, staring very intensely at a spot in the middle distance. 

'Yeah, I'm - I'm into girls. I think. Uh…'

'Ohmygod, I'm sorry! I freaked you out! I went too far! God I shoulda just listened to Todd -'

'No! No, Amanda I'm pretty sure you should never listen to Todd about… anything, really,' Farah had about three seconds to make some really important decisions, which she was great at when those decisions were about angle of attack or defensive maneuvers, but not so much when they were about people and relationships. 

The process of logic and reasoning would not, could not apply here. She had to go with her gut. Except going with her gut almost always led to the wrong choice and a row from her father, because her instincts were bad and she wasn't living up to the family legacy, and she was 90% they all thought of her a disappointment…

'I would love to go to prom with you, Amanda.'

'You would? You're not just, saying that… are you? Cause I know I'm kind of a weird kid.' Amanda looked at her with wide eyes, full of hope and reflected fire. 

'You may not have noticed, but I'm kind of a weird kid too,' Farah smirked. It felt good to actually say it, rather than think it; and if Amanda was weird too then being weird couldn't be all that bad. They could be weirdos together. For a split second Farah wondered if this was the kind of moment where kisses were supposed to happen, but she quickly decided against it - if they were going to kiss it would have to be some time when they were both ready. They both knew she would have to go home soon, but for now she was happy to sit by the fire, huddled under a blanket with Amanda's arms around her, watching the night go by.


End file.
